2008-2011 Member of Abhisit Government
On December 2, 2008, the Constitutional Court dissolved the People's Power Party. Abhisit Vejjajiva was subsequently appointed as Prime Minister after a parliamentary vote. Korn was appointed Finance Minister in the Abhisit administration in December 2009.
Korn's significant achievements as Minister of Finance include: a 117-billion-baht stimulus package initiated in January 2009 and a second stimulus package(Thai: แผนปฎิบัติการไทยเข้มแข็ง), valued over 1.4 trillion baht over 2010 - 2012. Most of the funds was spent in improving infrastructure in Thailand especially in the area of irrigation and transportation, public health, education and tourism.
Korn also focused on policies that helped addressed social inequality and poverty such as pushing through the draft bill on land and building tax (property tax) in the Thai cabinet in April 2010 a part of an ambitious plan to overhaul the country’s tax structure as the first step toward achieving a balanced budget.
Additionally, Korn helped refinanced loan-shark debt for over 500,000 individuals, many of whom were being charged more than 100% p.a. on interest for their loans.
In January 2010, Korn was awarded "Finance Minister of the Year 2010" for both global and Asia Pacific regions by the Banker magazine of the Financial Times. The magazine complimented the Thai minister on his "financial management skills as he assumed the finance minister position of Thailand amid the economic stagnation. In addition, he was given credits for his contributions to promote and enhance financial and economic cooperation in Asean." Korn is the only Thai to have received both awards.
As then Chair of the ASEAN Finance Ministers' meetings in 2009, Korn was also credited for helping with the creation of the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM), a regional foreign reserve pool in case of currency flow shortage.
After the Democrats were defeated in the 2011 election, Korn's term as finance minister ended and he subsequently took on the role of Shadow Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs in Abhisit Vejjajiva's shadow cabinet, he was replaced by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) economist Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala.
Read more about this topic: Korn Chatikavanij
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